Force sensing method, force sensing system and force sensor calibration method

ABSTRACT

A force sensing method, applied to a force sensing system comprising a plurality of force sensors and a touch sensing surface, comprising: (a) determining a first location of a first object on the touch sensing surface; (b) defining a first force sensing region according to the first location; and (c) computing a first system sensing force which the first object causes to the touch sensing surface according to the first location, and according to at least one sensor sensing force of a first part of the force sensors corresponding to the first force sensing region. The present invention also discloses a force sensing system which uses the above-mentioned force sensing method, and an efficient force sensor calibration method. Noises can be reduced and power consumption can be decreased, since only sensor sensing forces of force sensors near the object are used for computing the system sensing force.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a force sensing method, a force sensing system and a force sensor calibration method, and particularly relates to a force sensing method, a force sensing system and a force sensor calibration method which can reduce noises and decrease power consumption.

2. Description of the Prior Art

A force sensing system may comprises force sensors to sense a force which caused by an object. However, the sensor sensing force may be interfered by various reasons. That is, noises for sensing force may exist. For example, if the object is far from the force sensors, the sensed force may be incorrect. Besides, the components of different force sensing systems may have different mechanical tolerances, which may also affect the accuracy of force sensing.

Additionally, the sensor sensing force output by the force sensor may not really correspond to a received force. For example, the force sensor receives a force of 1 newton, but the sensor sensing force output by the force sensor is 0.9 newton. Such issue may be caused by various factors. For example, the issue may be caused by the process of manufacturing the force sensor, or caused by the mechanical tolerances of different force sensing systems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, one objective of the present invention is to provide a force sensing method which can reduce noises and decreases power consumption.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a force sensing system which can reduce noises and decreases power consumption.

Still another objective of the present invention is to provide an efficient force sensor calibration method.

One embodiment of the present invention discloses a force sensing method, applied to a force sensing system comprising a plurality of force sensors and a touch sensing surface, comprising: (a) determining a first location of a first object on the touch sensing surface; (b) defining a first force sensing region according to the first location; and (c) computing a first system sensing force which the first object causes to the touch sensing surface according to the first location, and according to at least one sensor sensing force of a first part of the force sensors corresponding to the first force sensing region, but not according to at least one the sensor sensing force of at least one of the force sensors which is not the first part of the force sensors.

Another embodiment of the present invention discloses a force sensing system which uses the above-mentioned force sensing method.

Still another embodiment of the present invention discloses a force sensor calibration method, applied to a force sensing system comprising a plurality of force sensors and a touch sensing surface, comprising: sequentially providing first forces to first regions of the touch sensing surface and recording first sensor sensing forces sensed by the force sensors, wherein the first regions are above the force sensors; sequentially providing second forces to the first regions and least one second region which is different from the first region, and recording second sensor sensing forces sensed by the force sensors; and calibrating the force sensors according to the first sensor sensing forces and the second sensor sensing forces.

In view of above-mentioned embodiments, noises can be reduced and power consumption can be decreased, since only sensor sensing forces of force sensors near the object are used for computing the system sensing force. Besides, an efficient force sensor calibration method is also provided.

These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 , FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B and FIG. 3 are schematic diagrams illustrating force sensing systems according to embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a force sensing systems according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a force sensing method according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating a force sensor calibration method according to one embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Several embodiments are provided in following descriptions to explain the concept of the present invention. Each component in following descriptions can be implemented by hardware (e.g. a device or a circuit) or hardware with software (e.g. a program installed to a processor). Besides, the method in following descriptions can be executed by programs stored in a non-transitory computer readable recording medium such as a hard disk, an optical disc or a memory. Additionally, the term “first”, “second”, “third” in following descriptions are only for the purpose of distinguishing different one elements, and do not mean the sequence of the elements. For example, a first device and a second device only mean these devices can have the same structure but are different devices.

FIG. 1 -FIG. 3 are schematic diagrams illustrating force sensing systems according to embodiments of the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 1 , the force sensing system 100 comprises a plurality of force sensors (nine force sensors FS_1-FS_9 in this example) and a touch sensing surface 101. However, the number and the arrangement of the force sensors are not limited to the example illustrated in FIG. 1 -FIG. 3 . In one embodiment, the touch sensing surface 101 is a part of a touch sensing device. For example, the force sensing system 100 can be implemented by a touch screen with force sensors, but not limited. The force sensors FS_1-FS_9 can be any types of force sensors. In one embodiment, the force sensors FS_1-FS_9 generate different capacitance values corresponding to different forces.

Also, the force sensing system 100 further comprises a processing circuit PS. Please note, the processing circuit PS is not limited to be provided in the location illustrated in FIG. 1 . The processing circuit PS is configured to determine a first location of a first object on the touch sensing surface 101, and configured to define a first force sensing region according to the first location. The first object can be any object which can be sensed by the touch sensing device, such as a finger or a stylus pen.

The processing circuit PS is further configured to compute a first system sensing force which means the first object causes to the whole touch sensing surface 101 according to the first location, and according to at least one sensor sensing force of a first part of the force sensors corresponding to the first force sensing region, but not according to at least one the sensor sensing force of at least one of the force sensors which is not the first part of the force sensors. The descriptions “not according to at least one the sensor sensing force of at least one of the force sensors which is not the first part of the force sensors” mentioned here can mean the force sensor which is not the first part of the force sensor is not active thus does not generate any sensor sensing force. However, these descriptions can also mean the force sensor which is not the first part of the force sensor is active and generate sensor sensing forces, but the sensor sensing values thereof are ignored and not used for computing the first system sensing force.

In one embodiment, the first force sensing region is a predetermined range of the first location. Briefly, in such case, the processing circuit PS defines a first force sensing region according to a first location of the first object, and computes a first system sensing force according to the sensor sensing forces generated by the force sensors inside the first force sensing region but not according to the sensor sensing forces generated by the force sensors which are not inside the first force sensing region.

Take FIG. 2A for example, the force sensors FS_1, FS_4 are inside the first force sensing region FR_1, thus the first system sensing force is computed according to sensor sensing forces generated by force sensors FS_1, FS_4 but not according to the force sensors FS_2, FS_3, FS_5-FS_9. Further, in the embodiment of FIG. 3 , the force sensors FS_4, FS_5, FS_7, FS_8 are inside the first force sensing region FR_1, thus the first system sensing force is computed according to sensor sensing forces generated by force sensors FS_4, FS_5, FS_7, FS_8 but not according to the force sensors FS_1, FS_2, FS_3, FS_6, FS_9.

In one embodiment, a number of the first part of the force sensors is decided according to a touch area of the first object Ob_1 on the touch sensing surface. For example, if the touch area of the first object Ob_1 is large, the first force sensing region FR_1 is larger, thus the first part of the force sensors may comprise more force sensors. On the opposite, if the touch area of the first object Ob_1 is small, the first force sensing region FR_1 is smaller, thus the first part of the force sensors may comprise less force sensors. Further, the first force sensing region FR_1 is not limited to circles illustrated in FIG. 2A, FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 .

Besides a location and an area of the first force sensing region FR_1 changes corresponding to the first location of the first object Ob_1, the weightings of the force sensors also change corresponding to the first location. The weighting means a degree that the sensor sensing force affects the system sensing force. For example, in the embodiment of FIG. 2A, the sensor sensing force of the force sensor FS_1 is F_1, and the sensor sensing force of the force sensor FS_4 is F_4. Also, the weighting of the force sensor FS_1 is 100%, and the weighting of the force sensor FS_4 is 50%. In such case, the first system sensing force is F1×1±F_4×0.5. Similarly, in the embodiment of FIG. 3 , the sensor sensing forces of the force sensor FS_4, FS_5, FS_7 and FS_8 are respectively F_4, F_5, F_7 and F_8. Also, the weightings of the force sensor FS_4, FS_5, FS_7 and FS_8 are respectively 45%, 60%, 50% and 60%. In such case, the first system sensing force is F4×0.45+F_5×0.6+F_6×0.5+F_7×0.6. Please note the weightings of the force sensor FS_4 are different in FIG. 2A and FIG. 3 , since it changes corresponding to the first location of the first object Ob1. In one embodiment, the closer the force sensor and the first object Ob_1, the weighting of the force sensor is higher.

The above-mentioned weightings can be set by various methods. In one embodiment, the weightings are acquired by using interpolation based on distances between different ones of the force sensors and the first location. For example, if it is supposed that a weighting of a force sensor which is away from the first location for a threshold distance Dth is 0, then a weighting of a force sensor which is away from the first location for a threshold distance D is

$100\% \times {\frac{D}{Dth}.}$

However, the weightings are not limited to be acquired based on interpolation.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2A, the force sensors which generate sensor sensing forces for computing the first system sensing force are selected according to the first force sensing region FR_1. However, in one embodiment, the touch sensing surface 101 are classified into a plurality of sub-regions. Each one of the sub-regions corresponds to at least one force sensor. In such case, the force sensors which generate sensor sensing forces for computing the first system sensing force are selected according to the sub-regions in which the first object Ob1 is located.

FIG. 2B is a schematic diagram illustrating force a sensing system according to another embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 2B, the touch sensing surface 101 comprises two sub-regions SR_1, SR_2. Please note, the touch sensing surface 101 can comprise more sub-regions, but only two sub-regions SR_1, SR_2 are illustrated in FIG. 2B. The sub-region SR_1 correspond to force sensor FS_1, FS_2, FS_4 and FS_5, thus sensor sensing forces generated by the force sensor FS_1, FS_2, FS_4 and FS_5 are used for computing the first system sensing force when the first object Ob_1 is located in the sub-region SR_1. On the opposite, the sensor sensing forces generated by other force sensors which are not the force sensor FS_1, FS_2, FS_4 and FS_5 are not used for computing the first system sensing force when the first object Ob_1 is located in the sub-region SR_1. Similarly, the sub-region SR_2 correspond to force sensor FS_4, FS_5, FS_7 and FS_8, thus sensor sensing forces generated by the force sensor FS_4, FS_5, FS_7 and FS_8 are used for computing the first system sensing force when the first object Ob_1 is located in the sub-region SR_2. On the opposite, the sensor sensing forces generated by other force sensors which are not the force sensor FS_4, FS_5, FS_7 and FS_8 are not used for computing the first system sensing force when the first object Ob_1 is located in the sub-region SR_2.

Please note, in the embodiment of FIG. 2B, the sub-region SR_1, SR_2 correspond to the same force sensors FS_4, FS_5. However, in another embodiment, different sub-regions can correspond to totally different force sensors.

The above-mentioned rules are not limited to a case that only one object exists. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagrams illustrating a force sensing systems according to another embodiment of the present invention. AS illustrated in FIG. 4 , besides the first object Ob_1, another second object Ob_2 also exists on the touch sensing surface 101. Therefore, a second force sensing region FR_2 is defined according to a second location of the second object Ob_2. Thereafter, the processing circuit PS computes a second system sensing force which the second object Ob_2 causes to the touch sensing surface 101 according to the second location, and according to at least one sensor sensing force of a second part of the force sensors corresponding to the second force sensing region, but not according to at least one the sensor sensing force of at least one of the force sensors which is not the second part of the force sensors.

For example, as shown in FIG. 4 , the force sensors FS_3, FS_6, are inside the second force sensing region FR_2, thus the second system sensing force is computed according to sensor sensing forces generated by force sensors FS_3, FS_6 but not according to the force sensors FS_1, FS_2, FS_4, FS_5, FS_7, FS_8, FS_9. Please note, in such case, the weightings of the force sensors FS_3, FS_6 are set according to the second location of the second object Ob_2 rather than the first location of the first object OB_1.

In one embodiment, the second object Ob_2 is close to the first object Ob_1. In other words, a distance between the first location and the second location is smaller than a threshold value. In such case, the processing circuit PS considers the first object Ob_1 and the second object Ob_2 as a single object. Then, similar with the steps of computing the first system sensing force in FIG. 2A and FIG. 3 , the processing circuit PS computes a third system sensing force according to at least one of the sensor sensing force of the first part of the force sensors in the first sensing region FR_1, but not according to at least one of the sensor sensing force of at least one of the force sensors which is not the first part of the force sensors.

As stated in the embodiment of FIG. 2B, the force sensors which generate sensor sensing forces for computing the first system sensing force are selected according to the sub-regions in which the first object Ob1 is located. In such case, if the second object Ob_2 and the first object Ob_1 are in the same sub-region, the processing circuit PS considers the first object Ob_1 and the second object Ob_2 as a single object.

The above-mentioned system sensing force can be applied for various applications, for example, the force can be used to control an electronic device connected with the force sensing system. For example, if the electronic device is a mobile phone which has a touch screen with force sensors, the system sensing force can be used for generating control commands to control the mobile phone. The system sensing force can be independently used to control the mobile phone, but can be used with other control actions to control the mobile phone. For example, the user can perform a specific gesture and forces at specific locations or with specific strengths to control the mobile phone.

The present invention further provides a force sensor calibration method for calibrating a force sensing system comprising a plurality of force sensors and a touch sensing surface, such as the force sensing system 100 in FIG. 1 . However, the force sensor calibration method can be applied to any other force sensing system. In one embodiment, first forces are sequentially provided to first regions of the touch sensing surface 101 and recording first sensor sensing forces sensed by the force sensors, wherein the first regions are above the force sensors. For example, a force of 1 newton is sequentially provided to the regions above the force sensors FS_1, FS_3, FS_7, and FS_9, and the first sensor sensing forces (e.g., capacitance values) of all force sensors are correspondingly recorded.

After that, second forces are sequentially provided to the first regions and least one second region which is different from the first region, and recording second sensor sensing forces sensed by the force sensors. For example, a force of 2 newton is sequentially provided to the regions above the force sensors FS_1-FS_9, and the second sensor sensing forces (e.g., capacitance values) of all force sensors are recorded. Therefore, in one embodiment, each of the second regions is located between two of the first regions.

After the first sensor sensing forces and the second sensor sensing forces are acquired, the force sensors FS_1-FS_9 can be accordingly calibrated. In one embodiment, the relations (or named the curves) between the forces which the force sensors receive (e.g., first force, second force) and the sensor sensing forces which the force sensors output (e.g., first sensor sensing forces and second sensor sensing forces) are computed, and the force sensors are calibrated according to the relations. For example, the force sensor can be calibrated to make sure the sensor sensing force which outputs can really correspond to the force it receives.

In view of the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 1-4 , a force sensing method can be acquired. FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a force sensing method according to one embodiment of the present invention, which is applied to a force sensing system comprising a plurality of force sensors and a touch sensing surface. The method in FIG. 5 comprises:

Step 501

Determine a first location of a first object (e.g., first object Ob_1) on the touch sensing surface (e.g., the touch sensing surface 101).

Step 503

Define a first force sensing region (e.g., the first force sensing region FR_1) according to the first location

Step 505

Compute a first system sensing force which the first object causes to the touch sensing surface according to the first location, and according to at least one sensor sensing force of a first part of the force sensors corresponding to the first force sensing region, but not according to at least one the sensor sensing force of at least one of the force sensors which is not the first part of the force sensors.

As above-mentioned, the methods illustrated in FIG. 5 is not limited to a case that only one object is sensed on the touch sensing surface 101, but can be applied to a case that more than one objects are sensed on the touch sensing surface 101.

In view of the embodiments, a force sensor calibration method can also be acquired. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a force sensor calibration method according to one embodiment of the present invention, which comprises following steps:

Step 601

Sequentially providing first forces to first regions of the touch sensing surface and recording first sensor sensing forces sensed by the force sensors, wherein the first regions are above the force sensors.

For example, a force of 1 newton is sequentially provided to the regions above the force sensors FS_1, FS_3, FS_7, and FS_9, and the first sensor sensing forces (e.g., capacitance values) of all force sensors are correspondingly recorded.

Step 603

Sequentially providing second forces to the first regions and least one second region which is different from the first region, and recording second sensor sensing forces sensed by the force sensors.

For example, a force of 2 newton is sequentially provided to the regions above the force sensors FS_1-FS_9, and the second sensor sensing forces (e.g., capacitance values) of all force sensors are recorded.

Step 605

Calibrating the force sensors according to the first sensor sensing forces and the second sensor sensing forces.

Other detail steps of the methods illustrated in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are illustrated in above-mentioned embodiments, thus are omitted for brevity here.

In view of above-mentioned embodiments, noises can be reduced and power consumption can be decreased, since only sensor sensing forces of force sensors near the object are used for computing the system sensing force. Besides, an efficient force sensor calibration method is also provided.

Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A force sensing method, applied to a force sensing system comprising a plurality of force sensors and a touch sensing surface, comprising: (a) determining a first location of a first object on the touch sensing surface; (b) defining a first force sensing region according to the first location; and (c) computing a first system sensing force which the first object causes to the touch sensing surface according to the first location, and according to at least one sensor sensing force of a first part of the force sensors corresponding to the first force sensing region, but not according to at least one the sensor sensing force of at least one of the force sensors which is not the first part of the force sensors.
 2. The force sensing method of claim 1, wherein the first force sensing region is a predetermined range of the first location.
 3. The force sensing method of claim 2, wherein the first part of the force sensors are the force sensors inside the first force sensing region.
 4. The force sensing method of claim 1, wherein the step (c) comprises: acquiring at least one weighting of the first part of the force sensors according to the first location; and computing the first system sensing force according to the sensor sensing force of the first part of the force sensors and the weighting.
 5. The force sensing method of claim 4, wherein the step of acquiring the weighting comprising: using interpolation to acquire the weights based on distances between different ones of the force sensors and the first location.
 6. The force sensing method of claim 1, further comprising: defining a second force sensing region according to a second location of a second object; computing a second system sensing force which the second object causes to the touch sensing surface according to the second location, and according to at least one sensor sensing force of a second part of the force sensors corresponding to the second force sensing region, but not according to at least one the sensor sensing force of at least one of the force sensors which is not the second part of the force sensors.
 7. The force sensing method of claim 1, further comprising: determining a second location of a second object on the touch sensing surface; considering the first object and the second object as a single object if a distance between the first location and the second location is smaller than a threshold value; and computing a third system sensing force according to at least one of the sensor sensing force of the first part of the force sensors, but not according to at least one of the sensor sensing force of at least one of the force sensors which is not the first part of the force sensors.
 8. The force sensing method of claim 1, wherein the step (c) further comprises: deciding a number of the first part of the force sensors according to a touch area of the first object on the touch sensing surface.
 9. A force sensing system, comprising: a plurality of force sensors; a touch sensing surface; a processing circuit, configured to perform following steps: (a) determining a first location of a first object on the touch sensing surface; (b) defining a first force sensing region according to the first location; and (c) computing a first system sensing force which the first object causes to the touch sensing surface according to the first location, and according to at least one sensor sensing force of a first part of the force sensors corresponding to the first force sensing region, but not according to at least one the sensor sensing force of at least one of the force sensors which is not the first part of the force sensors.
 10. The force sensing system of claim 9, wherein the first force sensing region is a predetermined range of the first location.
 11. The force sensing system of claim 10, wherein the first part of the force sensors are the force sensors inside the first force sensing region.
 12. The force sensing system of claim 9, wherein the step (c) comprises: acquiring at least one weighting of the first part of the force sensors according to the first location; and computing the first system sensing force according to the sensor sensing force of the first part of the force sensors and the weighting.
 13. The force sensing system of claim 12, wherein the step of acquiring the weighting comprising: using interpolation to acquire the weights based on distances between different ones of the force sensors and the first location.
 14. The force sensing system of claim 9, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to perform: defining a second force sensing region according to a second location of a second object; computing a second system sensing force which the second object causes to the touch sensing surface according to the second location, and according to at least one sensor sensing force of a second part of the force sensors corresponding to the second force sensing region, but not according to at least one the sensor sensing force of at least one of the force sensors which is not the second part of the force sensors.
 15. The force sensing system of claim 14, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to perform: determining a second location of a second object on the touch sensing surface; considering the first object and the second object as a single object if a distance between the first location and the second location is smaller than a threshold value; and computing a third system sensing force according to at least one of the sensor sensing force of the first part of the force sensors, but not according to at least one of the sensor sensing force of at least one of the force sensors which is not the first part of the force sensors.
 16. The force sensing system of claim 9, wherein the step (c) further comprises: deciding a number of the first part of the force sensors according to a touch area of the first object on the touch sensing surface.
 17. A force sensor calibration method, applied to a force sensing system comprising a plurality of force sensors and a touch sensing surface, comprising: sequentially providing first forces to first regions of the touch sensing surface and recording first sensor sensing forces sensed by the force sensors, wherein the first regions are above the force sensors; sequentially providing second forces to the first regions and least one second region which is different from the first region, and recording second sensor sensing forces sensed by the force sensors; and calibrating the force sensors according to the first sensor sensing forces and the second sensor sensing forces.
 18. The force sensor calibration method of claim 17, wherein each of the second regions is located between two of the first regions. 